A family who made bullets and guns to order for criminals from their terraced Birmingham house have been jailed for a total of 47 years.

Head of the family Kevin Bates - a dad of five with 13 grandchildren - was a "Wild West enthusiast" who went to fairs and conventions and had legally held a firearms certificate for most of his life.

His family took orders for specific ammunition and gun modifications from criminals and made them in a workshop in their mid-terraced house in Kitts Green .

From left to right: Kevin Bates with Connor, Nathan, Trudy, as well as Imran Khan

Police have linked the ammunition and guns they made to at least 24 crimes - including the murder of Carl Campbell in West Bromwich in 2016.

At Birmingham crown court on Friday, Kevin Bates, his son Connor, his nephew Nathan Bates, and Connor's friend, Imran Khan, were all sentenced for their parts in the enterprise.

A previous trial had heard how Kevin Bates, 55, and Connor, 23, were arrested after their home in North Roundhay, Kitts Green, was raided in September 2106 and five illegal firearms and nearly 4,000 bullets and cartridges.

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Analysis of these items revealed that there was a scientific link to at least 24 crimes across the West Midlands, including the murder of Carl Campbell on West Bromwich High Street in December 2016.

Some of the guns and ammunition seized at the house in Kitts Green

Kevin Bates held a firearms certificate that allowed him to have number of rifles and revolvers in a locked cabinet under the stairs.

But when police searched the premises they found makeshift workshops in the garage and utility room that were being used to shorten shotgun barrels and modify ammunition.

Police also found a safe containing two revolvers and a single shot pistol. A modified Olympic .38 double action revolver was found in the garage, and equipment for making a rifle round that could fit an AK47 machine gun, as well as 49 live rounds of ammunition were seized.

An antique gun which was linked to the Bates' illegal arms enterprise

The trial heard how Kevin Bates had a leather notebook which was a "recipe book" with instructions on how to make bullets for the illegal guns.

A search of Connor’s car found 9mm bulleted cartridges in sandwich bags along with a SIM card.

Connor was linked to an address in Bushbury Road, Kitts Green, where a price list for various modified ammunition was recovered.

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Imran Khan was an associate of Connor, and Nathan Bates, were found to be involved in the conspiracy after phone records linked them to the ongoing sale of ammunition.

Firearms, ammunition and equipment were sent off to the National Ballistics Intelligence Service (NABIS) to be examined and these linked them to at least 20 crimes in the West Midlands.

A pile of ammunition from the workshop in Kitts Green.

These included:

* July 2016 in Erdington when police were called to a row between two men where a firearm was discharged.

* Winson Green in July 2017 when a firearm was discharged.

*Moseley December 2015 when shots were fired in a residential street.

* December 2015 in Sunridge Avenue, Newtown, when two men with balaclavas covering their faces fired at an address.

* A shooting in Handsworth in January 2016 when a man was shot at and the bullet recovered from his body.

* July 2016 in Selly Oak where a man was shot and a bullet found in his body.

Kevin Bates pleaded guilty to three counts of possessing a prohibited firearm, and was convicted of two counts of possession of a prohibited firearm, possession of a prohibited weapons for sale or transfer, conspiracy to sell or transfer prohibited weapons and ammunition.

He was jailed for 23 years.

Connor Bates admitted to conspiring to supply ammunition. He was convicted of five counts of possessing a prohibited firearm, possessing a prohibited firearm for sale or transfer and conspiracy to sell or transfer prohibited weapons.